The present disclosure relates generally to orthopedics and more particularly to dynamic knee bracing.
Unicompartmental osteoarthritis of the knee affects millions of individuals. Most nonsurgical management of this progressive disease is primarily directed at reducing inflammation and pain with medication. Evidence supports the clinical efficacy of bracing for managing osteoarthritis of the knee. In some patients, bracing significantly reduces pain, increases function, and reduces excessive loading to the damaged compartment. A variety of health and functional status instruments, techniques and investigations, have been used to evaluate the unloading capabilities of such braces. The braces have been shown to load share and thus reduce the stresses in the degenerated medial compartment of the knee.
A need exists for an improved device for treating and/or aiding unicompartmental osteoarthritis.